Giving Hope – Fernando and Luis in Guatemala

Posted on April 22, 2020

Fernando and Luis Misteco (on the right) study in Global Action’s Foundations class in 2019. See more pictures of the family in action below.

Meet Fernando and Luis Misteco. This father-son duo graduated together from Global Action’s Foundations program in 2019 after 8 months of hard work. This was a major accomplishment for each of them: Fernando had never attended a day of school in his life, having learned to read by watching a friend do homework. Luis graduated at the top of his Foundations class. These men are dedicated to serving the Lord to the best of their ability, despite the challenges they face.

Fernando and his wife live in a rural, indigenous village in Guatemala with their 7 children and 2 grandchildren. Their family is poor by material standards. But they are rich in the love of Christ, and are always finding creative ways to serve families in need.

Before the pandemic started, they poured into the lives of dozens of children through a Kids’ Club. They met weekly to bless the children with love, food, and the Word of God.

They also used their skills in construction to help build homes for families in need. As recently as February of this year, they partnered with a short-term team from Global Action to help build a sewing workshop and shopfront for a woman named Ruth.

Ruth and her family live in an impoverished area known as a “squatters’ village.” There is no running water in the homes, and conditions are very rough. Ruth has a sewing business, which she had been trying to operate out of her kitchen. Ruth also has a dream to start a Bible study for people in her village, and she is anxiously waiting to begin training through Global Action’s Foundations program this year so that she can point her neighbors to true hope and life. Through Fernando and the Global Action team, another future Guatemalan leader has been blessed!

With the rise of the pandemic and the corresponding loss of employment and food shortages now facing many Guatemalans, Fernando and Luis have pivoted to help meet these desperate needs. They have been hard at work putting together food baskets to help families facing starvation. They are taking care of the families of the children who attended their Kids’ Club, they are trekking up a mountain to help impoverished families there, and they are serving as many families in their own community as they can. They are using all that they have to give hope in a seemingly hopeless situation.

And the amazing thing is that leaders like Fernando and Luis aren’t stopped by border closures – they are already there! God has sovereignly placed them where they are to serve those around them in this time of crisis. You and I can’t physically access these communities right now, but by training national leaders you are touching countless lives through them.

Thank you for equipping leaders like Fernando and Luis. Together, we are making a difference in a hurting world.

We hope you’ll be encouraged by these pictures of Fernando and Luis shining brightly in Guatemala.

Give Hope

A volcano view from where Fernando and Luis are workingTaking bags of food to villagers on the mountainFernando and his family preparing to distribute bags of food to families in their villageA family receives aidA family receives aidReceiving aidReceiving aidOne of Fernando's sons helps coordinate food distribution to familiesA woman receiving aidFernando distributes foodA woman receiving aidA family receiving aidLuis (right) distributes foodThe whole Misteco familyInside Fernando's home, where he and his wife live with their 7 children and 2 grandchildrenGlobal Action - Guatemala Coordinators, Jairo and Andrea, pray with Fernando's wife in their kitchenInside the Misteco family kitchenFernando hosting Kids' Club before the pandemicFernando hosting Kids' Club before the pandemicLuis (21) with children from the Kids' ClubRuth holding her son Timothy in her kitchen, where she also operated her sewing business before Fernando and Global Action helped build her sewing shop.Another look at Ruth's kitchen/sewing shopAnother look at Ruth's kitchen and sewing workshopPreparing to add the new sewing shop onto Ruth's houseConstruction begins on Ruth's new workshopConstruction begins on Ruth's new workshopConstruction begins on Ruth's new workshopConstruction begins on Ruth's new workshopConstruction begins on Ruth's new workshopConstruction on Ruth's new workshopCement floors in Ruth's new workshop - the only non-dirt floors in her home.Putting up the roofThe Global Action mission team from ArizonaFernando with Ruth's family in her new sewing workshop! Fernando designed and built a retractable table for her sewing machine.Fernando with Ruth and her family in her new sewing workshop! Fernando designed and built a retractable table for her sewing machine.Ruth and her husband, Baltimore, smile from the sales window in her new workshop.Ruth and Baltimore look out onto the street from her new shop windowA view of Ruth's streetA child play's on Ruth's streetPlaying soccer with children on Ruth's streetChildren on Ruth's street. The cart with the large cartons is for fetching water, since the homes in this village do not have running water.
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